India News | MP: Cops Cane-charge Protesters Seeking Permission for Religious Procession

Agar Malwa (MP), Aug 23 (PTI) Police on Monday cane-charged activists of some organisations who blocked a section of the Ujjain-Kota Highway near Madhya Pradesh's Agar Malwa city and hurled stones demanding permission to organise an annual procession hailing Lord Shiva, officials said.

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Windscreens of some police vehicles were damaged in stone pelting, an official said.

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The protesters were demanding that they be allowed to take out traditional “Baijnath Shahi Sawari” in the Agar-Malwa city.

The local administration had organised this procession by following all COVID-19 protocols on August 16, but some Hindu organisations and the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) were not happy with it and had demanded permission to organise the "Sawari" procession on August 23.

“Some organisations staged a road blockade demanding permission for 'Baba Baijnath Shahi Sawari'. We tried to talk to them but the crowd pelted stones at police personnel and broke windscreens of police vehicles. In a bid to disperse the crowd, we used mild force,” Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Jyoti Umath told reporters.

When asked if police personnel were injured in the incident, she said the information was being gathered.

Umath said the police will identify the stone-pelters through video footage and take legal action.

Meanwhile, some people led by Congress MLA Vipin Bankhede courted arrest after holding a protest in the premises of Lord Baijnath temple near Agar Malwa demanding that the religious procession be allowed, police said.

A case has been registered in connection with stone-pelting against BJYM's Agar Malwa district president Mayank Rajput and others at the city Kotwali police station.

Agar Malwa district BJP chief Govind Barkhedi said he was not aware of the incident.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)